Project overview
Traditionally most chemical parameters (e.g. nitrate, phosphate) in aquatic environment are measured by laboratory analysis of discrete water samples. Microfluidic sensors offer an attractive alternative: by taking and analysing samples autonomously in situ, they obviate sampling allowing larger datasets particularly when used in conjunction with autonomous systems. The current state-of-the-art sensors have temporal resolution of minutes due to Taylor dispersion (fluid flow effectively smears chemical composition within the device) and complex valve controls, making them high-cost and unsuitable for deployments requiring high frequency measurement - most notably on profiling vehicles (e.g. Argo floats, oceanic gliders) that rapidly transect the water column. Droplet microfluidics (in which nano litre water samples are taken and subsequently operated on as droplets within an immiscible oil) is a novel microfluidic method that, in addition to other advantages, crucially offers zero Taylor dispersion and much higher analytical throughput. This project will develop the first-ever droplet-flow based field-deployable sensor for autonomous systems. Low-cost, low-powered and fully functional; the device will be a step-change in high-frequency autonomous aquatic chemical analysis.
Staff
Lead researchers
Other researchers
Collaborating research institutes, centres and groups
Research outputs
Bingyuan Lu, James Lunn, Ken Yeung, Selva Dhandapani, Liam Carter, Tiina Roose, Liz Shaw, Adrian Nightingale & Xize Niu,
2024, Environmental Science & Technology, 58(6), 2956-2965
Type: article
Chi Leng Leong, Sharon Coleman, Adrian Nightingale, Sammer-Ul Hassan, David Voegeli, Martyn G. Boutelle & Xize Niu,
2019, Analytical Methods, 11(48), 6119-6123
DOI: 10.1039/C9AY02070E
Type: article
Adrian Nightingale, Sammer-Ul Hassan, Brett Warren, Kyriacos Makris, Gareth W.H. Evans, Evanthia Papadopoulou, Sharon Coleman & Xize Niu,
2019, Environmental Science & Technology, 53(16), 9677-9685
Type: article
Adrian Nightingale, Sammer-Ul Hassan, Gareth, William Harry Evans, Sharon Coleman & Xize Niu,
2018, Lab on a Chip
DOI: 10.1039/C8LC00092A
Type: article
Adrian Nightingale, Gareth Evans, Peixiang Xu, Byung Jae Kim, Sammer-Ul Hassan & Xize Niu,
2017, Lab on a Chip, 17(6), 1149-1157
DOI: 10.1039/C6LC01479H
Type: article
Sammer-Ul Hassan, Adrian M. Nightingale & Xize Niu,
2017, Micromachines, 8(2)
DOI: 10.3390/mi8020058
Type: article